Spoolless string trimmer head

Abstract

A spoolless string trimmer head having a housing formed by a cover and a base which contains a coiled supply of trimming line. The lower housing member has a central opening and a radial passage for the trimming line so that the trimming line can be fed from the storage coil through the central opening and the radial passage to project radially-outwardly from the head. Several types of convenient clamping arrangements are disclosed which clamp the trimming line during operation of the trimmer and release the trimming line for feeding of replacement portions of the trimming line.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A head for a trimmer using flexible trimming line as the cutting implement comprising: housing means for containing a coil of trimming line, said housing means having an opening therethrough for egress of said trimming line, said opening being disposed in communication with the center of said coil through said opening to project the free end of said trimming line generally radially-outwardly from said housing means, said housing means being adapted to be rotated at high speed to rotate said coil and the generally radially-outwardly projecting free end of said trimming line therewith; and   clamping means associated with said housing means for securing said trimming line during rotation of said housing means and for releasing said coil through said opening without rotation of said coil said clamping means comprising;   a button member which is manually movably with respect to said housing means for releasing and clamping said trimming line;   a clamping member resiliently biased in a direction to cause clamping of said trimming line and which is movable against said resilient bias when said button member is manually moved to release said trimming line; and   movement defining means including a slot and a rail residing in said slot, one of said slot and said rail being associated with said housing means and the other of said slot and said rail being associated with said clamping member, said slot and said rail causing said clamping member to move linearly in one direction to release said trimming line and linearly in the opposite direction to clamp said trimming line.   
     
     
       2. A trimmer head according to claim 1 wherein said resilient bias is provided by a spring member. 
     
     
       3. A head for a trimmer using flexible trimming line as the cutting implement comprising: housing means for containing a coil of trimming line, said housing means including a base having an opening therethrough and a lateral passage disposed in communication with said opening so that said trimming line can be fed from the center of said coil through said opening and said lateral passage to project the free end of said trimming line generally radially-outwardly from said housing means, said housing means being adapted to be rotated at high speed to rotate said coil and the generally radially-outwardly projecting free end of said trimming line therewith; and   clamping means associated with said housing means for securing said trimming line during rotation of said housing means and for releasing the trimming line for feeding of said trimming line from the center of said coil through said opening and said lateral passage without rotation of said coil, said clamping means including a clamping member disposed contiguous said lateral passage, a manually-movable operating member operatively connected to said clamping member to move said clamping member upon movement of said manually-movable operating member, and movement defining means including a slot and a rail residing in said slot, one of said slot and said rail being associated with said housing means and the other of said slot and said rail being associated with said clamping member, said slot and said rail causing said clamping member to move linearly in a first direction to release said trimming line and linearly in a second direction to clamp said trimming line so that said clamping member moves to release said trimming line when said manually-movable operating member is moved in one direction and so that said clamping member moves to clamp said trimming line contiguous said lateral passage when said manually-movable operating member moved in another direction.   
     
     
       4. A trimmer head according to claim 3 wherein said movement defining means further includes a second slot and a second rail residing in said second slot, one of said second slot and said second rail being associated with said housing means and the other of said second slot and said second rail being associated with said second clamping member, said second slot and said second rail causing said second clamping member to move linearly in a third direction to release said trimming line and linearly in a fourth direction to clamp said trimming line. 
     
     
       5. A trimmer head according to claim 4 further including means for resiliently biasing said first-mentioned and said second clamping members in said second and fourth directions, respectively, to clamp said trimming line between said first-mentioned and said second clamping members contiguous said lateral passage. 
     
     
       6. A trimmer head according to claim 5 wherein said manually-movable operating member is movable in said one direction against said resilient bias to move said first-mentioned and said second clamping member in said first and third directions, respectively, to release said trimming line.